Middle class professionals: tell me about your finances

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are 48 & 53 and make a combined 120k, which is poor here on DCUM. But I consider ourselves middle class - even upper middle class. DH started working at 18 full time and the best advice his older brother game him was to put the max possible into his 401K, which was easy since he was living at home and didn't really have any expenses. Fast forward and he's got $750K in his 401K. DH went to college part time - took him over 10 years to get his degree, and every class was paid for by his employer. He has worked in the IT field and has been in a "professional" position since he got his degree. I worked for the fed govt for 14 years, was a stay at home mom for 9 and now work very part time. I have $350K in my 401K - again maxing it out while I was with the govt and haven't contributed a dime since I left the workforce. We have managed to save $37,000 in 529's for our three children. Thanks to a wealthy aunt, the kids also have 529s that are funded enough for in-state tuition. We never had any student loans and we won't let our children take out student loans.

DH and I bought a modest home when we first got married - paid $200,000 in 1998 and its now worth $600,000 so we have significant equity. We keep our cars forever. We currently have a car payment - DH drives a 5 year old car and I just traded in our 12 year old minivan. DH will most likely not get a new car until a couple of years after my SUV is paid off. We don't take a vacation every year and we only eat out once or twice a month. We do live almost paycheck to paycheck but I don't regret not returning to my former career. We are healthy, happy, have a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, clothes on our backs. No we aren't jetting off to Europe and the Caribbean every year, but we are in much better shape than a significant portion of the country.

Wow this is so impressive, congratulations. You strike me as much wealthier than he $400k HHI poster (you’re not middle class by any definition, $400k poster ?)

[Anonymous]

We are a two parent working family 33/35. HHI $200, split about equally. DH graduated without student loans, DW pays $400 a month in student loans.

Both raised in blue collar households without parental financial support after age 18. Two kids in daycare.

We have about $200k in 401ks. About $100k equity in house, worth about $650k. And about $30k emergency savings. Looking to bump that up next year.

529s have about $8k in them. Will bump that up when oldest is out of daycare (next fall).

Compared to the crazies on here we aren’t doing so great but compared to where I was in my twenties I’m peoud of myself.

[Anonymous]

HHI of about 240k but that is about to take substantial hit when I switch jobs; we should land at about 180 or so (but I'll have my nights and weekends back - yay!) combined student loan debt of about 70k. combined retirement accounts of nearly 500k (mainly from our pre-kid days). About 50k in other investments. We just sold our house in DC and are sitting on about 250 in cash while we rent and decide where to buy. Current thinking is that we will put 125 towards a new house (in our much cheaper new location), 50k each in 529 accounts for 2 preschoolers, and keep 25k as emergency fund. alternative possibility is to pay off the student loans and put less in 529 accounts. Interest rate is so low that it seems silly but I am reluctant to keep carrying student loan debt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are 37/35 and our HHI is close to 400k. We both have student loans, her more so than me, which sucks because I generate more than 3/4 of our income. We have about $250k in home equity, $350k combined in 401k assets, $85k in cash, and about another $100k in other investments. I also have some other liquid collectible stuff, like a vintage Porsche I could sell for probably $125-150k.

I agree with the PP that student loans are a gigantic difference. The other difference is my employer (a law firm) has never matched my 401k contributions, which has limited the growth of those accounts. Also, housing here is expensive, and we paid premium to have a decent sized house within close driving distance of downtown.

Thanks for your input but if you are a 400k HHI please don’t respond as “middle class”

Seriously clueless.

NP. Then what is the line between MC and UMC? Do you consider 400k UMC or something else?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are 37/35 and our HHI is close to 400k. We both have student loans, her more so than me, which sucks because I generate more than 3/4 of our income. We have about $250k in home equity, $350k combined in 401k assets, $85k in cash, and about another $100k in other investments. I also have some other liquid collectible stuff, like a vintage Porsche I could sell for probably $125-150k.

I agree with the PP that student loans are a gigantic difference. The other difference is my employer (a law firm) has never matched my 401k contributions, which has limited the growth of those accounts. Also, housing here is expensive, and we paid premium to have a decent sized house within close driving distance of downtown.

Thanks for your input but if you are a 400k HHI please don’t respond as “middle class”

Seriously clueless.

NP. Then what is the line between MC and UMC? Do you consider 400k UMC or something else?

A wage earner like that PP is middle class. He and wufe csrries studrnt loan and with that big income only manage to ssve less than a million. They are doing it wrong.

[Anonymous]

OP, it sounds like you are doing pretty well.

For comparison, I am 50 now, with two teens approaching college.

I am a Fed, DH a teacher. A decade ago, when we were your age, our HHI was about $145,000, and were putting away 5% for retirement, plus getting the 5% federal match. Plus, we were putting away a few hundred each month for college for our children. At that point, our retirement account had about $200,000, and we had $50,000 total in college savings accounts.

Fast forward ten years. HHI is now about $180,000. We have continued to save at the same pace - 5% in the retirement account, plus 5% federal match, and now up to about $1,000 per month into college savings. Right now we have $600,000 in our retirement accounts, plus $220,000 in total college savings - enough to pay for in-state tuition for both our children for four years.

I think we are in pretty good shape - and you are ahead of where we were ten years ago. So congrats and keep it up!

[Anonymous]

54 here. 180K HHI I have 10K in cash/checking, about 30 k in liquid assets (had to use my emergency fund a few years ago for medical expenses; have not been able to replenish it). 500K in home equity, and 1 mil (ok 999600) in my 401k.

Kid goes to college in 2.5 years. No savings for it, but I will make it work. (we can sell house and move to apartment)

[Anonymous]

We are both 40, HHI 190k. We worked over 30 years combined. Started out with 65k loans. Repaid in 7 years. Retirement only combined 200k. DH thinks we’ll be in a higher bracket at retirement so he’s only put in 5% to get his company match. I Used to max out until I got an employer that didn’t provide 401k, stayed out 2007-2014 and missed out on a lot of gains. But counting equity and two rentals we have, Quicken says our net assets are $900k (includes retirement). Right now, daycare costs are insane. $50k a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are 37/35 and our HHI is close to 400k. We both have student loans, her more so than me, which sucks because I generate more than 3/4 of our income. We have about $250k in home equity, $350k combined in 401k assets, $85k in cash, and about another $100k in other investments. I also have some other liquid collectible stuff, like a vintage Porsche I could sell for probably $125-150k.

I agree with the PP that student loans are a gigantic difference. The other difference is my employer (a law firm) has never matched my 401k contributions, which has limited the growth of those accounts. Also, housing here is expensive, and we paid premium to have a decent sized house within close driving distance of downtown.

Why are you posting on this thread? 400k is not a middle class income. Get a clue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are 35, 2 kids in daycare. Making about $175k combined. Can't Max out anything at the moment. Just trying to survive with the big daycare bill. I pay $400/month student loan bill too. We have about $240k combined in 401k accounts and about 15k emergency fund. No cc debt and no car payments.

Hope to improve things a bit when our oldest starts kindergarten in 2019.

Once you pay off your student loans and get out from under daycare you will free up a ton of money to invest for retirement. You can only do what you can do and your lack of cc and car debt means you have a lot of discipline.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are 35, 2 kids in daycare. Making about $175k combined. Can't Max out anything at the moment. Just trying to survive with the big daycare bill. I pay $400/month student loan bill too. We have about $240k combined in 401k accounts and about 15k emergency fund. No cc debt and no car payments.

Hope to improve things a bit when our oldest starts kindergarten in 2019.

Once you pay off your student loans and get out from under daycare you will free up a ton of money to invest for retirement. You can only do what you can do and your lack of cc and car debt means you have a lot of discipline.

PP here. Thanks! I'm a fed & so thankful for the 5% match, but bummed I'm only putting in 6% right now. Once daycare drops (still pay for aftercare but won't be as bad) I can bump it back up again. I'm never sure if it's worth paying off the loans in their entirety or what - interest rate is so low.

[Anonymous]

At $95k I’m not sure this cuts it as middle class here(!) but at 48 I have $200,000 in retirement and $250,000 home equity. Single parent doing the best I can. 3 percent employer match.

[Anonymous]

Mid to late 30s, HHI 120, 250 in retirement, 60k in mutual funds, 175k liquid savings. Only debt is mortgage. One child in daycare. We need to do something with our liquid savings beyond a higher interest savings account in 2018, just haven't decided what yet to do.

[Anonymous]

We are 38/40 and make about $230k but it swings because H is in sales.
We have $510k in retirement, $15k in cash savings (which we need to rebuild), $50k in investments, $265k in home equity and $130k in 529s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, it sounds like you are doing pretty well.

For comparison, I am 50 now, with two teens approaching college.

I am a Fed, DH a teacher. A decade ago, when we were your age, our HHI was about $145,000, and were putting away 5% for retirement, plus getting the 5% federal match. Plus, we were putting away a few hundred each month for college for our children. At that point, our retirement account had about $200,000, and we had $50,000 total in college savings accounts.

Fast forward ten years. HHI is now about $180,000. We have continued to save at the same pace - 5% in the retirement account, plus 5% federal match, and now up to about $1,000 per month into college savings. Right now we have $600,000 in our retirement accounts, plus $220,000 in total college savings - enough to pay for in-state tuition for both our children for four years.

I think we are in pretty good shape - and you are ahead of where we were ten years ago. So congrats and keep it up!

This sounds like an average for DMV family. I would agree that you are doing well in that you have a decent 401k balance, can send two kids to college paid for and both presumably have interesting and rewarding jobs. If you continue saving at the same rate you should retire with around $1.2 million which will generate nearly $50k. Add this to your pension and SS and you should end up with an income that is pretty close to what you currently enjoyCongratulations!